Northern San Juan
AvalancheChris Dickson · Jan 15, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Intermittent obscured skies with winds roaring at the highest ridgetops but calming down throughout the morning. Temps in the mid to upper 20s.
Snowpack
We finally have enough of a slab in this area to see avalanching on the very weak layers formed prior to 1/4. On East aspects, near surface facets seem to be bearing the load slightly better, whereas on SE aspect NTL/BTL we have a crust-facet combinations that is producing the most reactive results. Snow depths range from 80cm-120cm around 11,000'.
Avalanche
Submitting this observation on behalf of the party who triggered and was caught and carried in this avalanche. I was able to investigate the crown of this avalanche on my descent and got decent pictures. Farther down on my group's descent, one of my partners also triggered a small persistent slab avalanche on a small steep slope that sees sun exposure and willow facet-farm effects. Three avalanches were observed in all, but the biggest one was unintentionally triggered and resulted in the skier taking a short ride on top of the debris. They were not buried, or injured, and were able to ski out on their own. That said, I believe this is the first avalanche of this nature to occur in this area this season. There was around 4 feet of debris piled on the uphill side of several trees. It's possible this triggered another sympathetic slide out of view behind a tree island as the terrain wrapped aspect to the south, as more debris was observed in the flats below.